Meet at 10.00 in the south east
corner of the Morrison’s car park in Brecon’s town centre, near the four-way
road junction opposite the Bus Interchange (drivers: please bring your cars). The
start of the walk is in Craig y Nos at the bus stop. This is on the A4067,
south west of Brecon, Grid Reference SN 840 153. There is a car park a few
metres away at the Country Park.

In
the case of more walkers than spaces, the ‘spare’ walkers will have to…

Take
the 10.55 bus T6 (direction
Abertawe/Swansea) to Craig y Nos, arrives 11.37. The last return
bus runs at 16.03. Very slow
walkers/long lunchers should take the earlier bus in the morning at 08.55.

The
walk starts through the Craig y Nos
Country Park, an idyllic spot on the banks of the Afon Tawe (River Tawe) with
its Victorian Gothic building (now a hotel), which was home to the world
renowned opera singer Adelina Patti from 1878 to 1919. The route then follows quiet
bridleways and country lanes with excellent views across the valley to the
Cribarth mountain, to a steep cliff edge above the Tawe River which it then follows for an extended stretch, with the
river running below in rapids.

You
then leave the Tawe to walk up a spectacular
wooded ravine, formed by the Nant Llech. The river’s name (‘Rock Slab
Stream’ in English) derives from the rock strata that tilt or dip to create
small waterfalls along its course, several of which can be observed from close
quarters. The wooded gorge (owned and managed by the National Trust) is an
Ancient Woodland, meaning many of the trees (especially on the southern bank)
have never been felled. It is also a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest)
for its humid habitat, supporting a wide range of damp-loving species.

You
ascend through the scenic gorge to a natural amphitheatre, carved out over
millennia by the highest waterfall in South
Wales, the Sgwd Henrhyd (Henrhyd Waterfall), which drops down a rocky ledge
forming a water curtain you can walk behind.

From
there country lanes and paths across pastures get you a prized lunch pub in Pen
y Cae and then back along the bridleways and lanes of the outward route to
finish with a riverside loop through the Craig y Nos Country Park to its tea
rooms.

Walk Options:Alternative Start, further northin Glyntawe (same bus), for a slightly
longer and tougher walk (14.3 km/8.9 mi);
or even longer, by exploring a map led variation of the morning route by
climbing up to the Cribarth plateau from Craig y Nos first to pick up the route
in Ynyswen (with or w/o the longer start from Glyntawe).

4 set off on the early bus with 2 planning on doing the main Craig y Nos Circular and the other 2 planning to meet 11 others at the Glyntawe bus stop to explore an alternative start and potential extension and 18 others convened at 10 for the main walk -- making for n=33 in total doing various options of this lovely waterfall and wildflower walk in w=initially-damp-but-then-drying-and-ultimately-sunny-conditions. Additionally those on the early bus encountered a young man doing the SWC Welsh walks on bis own! In contrast to the walks on the prior days, this outing explored the lower top of Cribarth (for those on the extension) before wandering up an idyllic gorge with a hanging wild garlic garden and vast display of bluebells before arriving at Sgwd Henrhyd -- a stunning waterfall at the head of the gorge. The advance party enjoyed a picnic behind the falls before continuing on to the pub in Pen y Cae for a drink where most also paid a visit to some exotic critters in the pub's micro zoo. Most of the main group caugbt up with us there. We then carried on to finish the walk with some making a further tea stop at the Craig y Nos cafe -- following which we bade farewell to several heading back to London. A great ending for the bank holiday weekend!